This was the second year the TEA used the new ratings system since the implementation of the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness in 2012. The agency did not release ratings the first year of the test.

There are two ratings: "met standard" and "improvement required." About 90 percent of school districts and charter schools across the state achieved the "met standard" rating. Every Southeast Texas school district met the standard.

The new system evaluates schools and districts on four academic measures and attributes an overall rating depending on if they met the target in each group. Three of the four measures are based only on STAAR exam results.

The "student progress" measure looks at annual improvement on STAAR exams in reading, writing and math for all students and for various racial/ethnic subgroups and others such as students with disabilities.

Another measure – called "closing performance gaps" – judges schools on the scores of the two racial or ethnic groups that performed the worst the previous year as well as the scores of low-income children.

Smith Middle School did not meet any of the four measures.

Austin Middle School, which the former school board voted to close as a result of a $25 million budget deficit, scored below the target for the performance gaps measure.

That rating will not follow the students to their new schools, said TEA spokeswoman Lauren Callahan. Because the campus is closed, Austin also will not follow the normal protocol for schools that require improvement, she said.

Both Pietzsch-MacArthur and Fehl-Price failed to reach the target for the student achievement and closing performance gaps measures.

Martin Elementary fell short of the student achievement measure. Jones-Clark met just one standard: student progress.

"We are focused on trying to get these scores improved as we move forward," said Joe Domino, BISD board vice president. "Our goal is to have a quality education for all of Beaumont ISD."

Calls to the district for comment went unreturned Monday.

The new board of managers expressed dismay at the district's preliminary state exam scores when they were presented at the July 28 board meeting. Board members called the scores, which are the basis for the state academic ratings, "appalling" and "unacceptable."